Hamilton County early voting doubles, unaffiliated surge 208%

Hamilton County early in-person voting has more than doubled through the first eight voting days compared with the same period in 2022. Unaffiliated voters recorded the largest percentage increase, up 208%, according to data first reported by WLWT.

Board of Elections figures show early in-person ballots through the first eight days of voting are up 158% among registered Democrats and 106% among Republicans. Hyde Park, Oakley and Mount Lookout residents face a packed Nov. 3 ballot that includes a Cincinnati Public Schools property tax levy and a competitive congressional race.

The trend is regional.

Butler, Clermont and Warren counties all saw sharp increases in early in-person voting over 2022, WLWT reported. In Butler County alone, more than 11,000 residents cast early ballots in the first eight days. Mail-in voting there dropped nearly 30% as more voters shifted to in-person ballots.

Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland told WVXU on Oct. 13 that 60% to 70% of voters still cast ballots on Election Day itself.

"They like the tradition of going to their polling place in their community, seeing the same poll workers many times that they see election after election day," Poland said.

Statewide, roughly 195,000 Ohioans had cast early in-person ballots by the fifth day of voting, nearly four times the roughly 50,000 at the same point in 2022, according to Ohio Secretary of State data reported by MS Now on Oct. 14.

For east-side voters, the ballot includes Issue 4, a five-year, 7-mill property tax levy that would generate an estimated $66.3 million a year for Cincinnati Public Schools, according to WCPO. It would be the district's first new operating levy in nearly a decade. Before the current school year, CPS cut more than 100 jobs and eliminated programs to close a $58 million budget gap, WVXU reported.

Ohio's 1st Congressional District race between Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman and Republican Eric Conroy is also on the ballot. The district was redrawn by the Republican-led Ohio General Assembly and now stretches into Warren and Clinton counties, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Hamilton County residents can vote early in person at the Board of Elections office at 4700 Smith Road through Nov. 1. Polls on Election Day, Nov. 3, open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.